Economy Stocks News: Replacing Gasoline With Coal-to-Liquid Fuels

Coal is dirty? How can in this robotic & Artificial Intelligent-era, people don't use their brain to reduce or eliminate CO2 emission in this super cheap God's gift? Please be creative! Why Renewable Energy and Oil/Gas Companies hate coal so much, and keep doing massive black ads campaign for decades? The answer is because TRADE COMPETITION!

For decades, oil markets has been volatile due to Arab Spring but coal price keep stable. So, why investor don't invest in Coal Gasification or Coal Liquefaction plant? Coal has plenty of benefits due to its chemical products. Every 1 ton of low calorie/brown coal in Bergius reactor can produce 5 - 6.2 barrels of high quality synthesis oil for jet fuel, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, etc. Production cost from coal-to-fuel only US$15 per barrel cheaper than petroleum US$23. Capital per gasification/liquefaction to fuel plant around $1.5 for 27,000 barrel/day depend many factors.

Coal chemical products:

H2 (Hydrogen), for fuel cell and rocket fuel
LPG/Town Gas
Methanol, for dimethyl ether, methyl acetate (solvent for glues and paints, acetic anhydride), formaldehyde, gasoline, olefins (caulks, cement and glues, construction adhesive, detergents, fingernail polish, liquid soaps and shampoos), acetic anhydride (cellulosic plastics, filter products, photographic film)
Wax
Coal tar pitch, for clay target and activated carbon manufacturing, impregnating of graphite electrode, refractory bricks and for binding applications, paints and protective marine, surface epoxy coatings, polyurethane systems, sealants, pavement seals, roofing applications, road coating applications, water proofing, refractory, carbon brush manufacturing, carbon carbon composites etc.
Coal tar USP, used as topical treatment for psoriasis or other skin conditions
Needle pitch coke, for graphite electrode industries
Diesel
Naphtha, used in the manufacture of plastics
Ethylene glycol, for polyester, synthetic rubber
Coke is used as a smokeless fuel and for the manufacture of water gas and producer gas.
Tar, for road surfacing, dyes, drugs and perfumes
Fluorene, for Benflumetol (Lumefantrine) production
Benzole, a motor fuel
Biphenyl, an intermediate for the production of a host of other organic compounds such as emulsifiers, optical brighteners, crop protection products, and plastics
Dibenzofuran, as a heat transfer agent and defoamer additives
Xylenols, used in the manufacture of antioxidants
Creosote, for disinfectants, dyes, wash oil and a wood preservative in railway lines, electric poles etc.
Toluene, for fuel, explosive, polyurethane foams, solvent (for paints, paint thinners, silicone sealants, chemical reactants, carbon nanomaterials, intoxicative inhalant, rubber, printing ink, adhesives (glues), lacquers, leather tanners, and disinfectants)
Phenol/Carbolic Acid, used in the manufacture of plastics and analgesic drugs
Cresols, for disinfectants, precursors or synthetic intermediates to other compounds and materials, including plastics, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and dyes.
Naphthol, for dyes, pigments, fats, oils, insecticides, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, antiseptics, synthesis of fungicides, and antioxidants for rubber.
Sulfur, used in the manufacture of sulfuric acid
Ammonia, used in the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizers
Carbon Monoxide, for acetic acid, chemical feedstock
Propylene, for fuel and refrigerants
Pyridine, for Pesticides, Solvent and Specialty reagents
Coal Based Graphitic Carbon Foam for civil & military aerospace applications, LED, automobile, construction, engineering surface
Isoprene for automotive parts such as tires, fuel hoses, mud flaps, suspension bushes, floor mats, and exhaust rubber hangers
Cresylic Acid, for disinfectants and antiseptics
Isoquinolines, used in the manufacture of dyes, paints, insecticides and antifungals. It is also used as a solvent for the extraction of resins and terpenes, and as a corrosion inhibitor
Anticorrosive coal tar coating, used to protect steel, concrete structures, timber and other construction materials in corrosive environment
Quinaldine, used in anti-malaria drugs, in manufacturing dyes, food colorants (e.g., Quinoline Yellows, pinacyanol), pharmaceuticals
Mesitylene, for a precursor to colorants and a specialty solvent
Benzene, used to manufacture cumene (for phenol), acetone (for resins and adhesives) and polymers & plastics (polystyrene and EPS)
Jetfuel
Methanethiol, for dietary component in poultry and animal feed
Alkanes, used mainly for heating and cooking purposes
Xylenols, for used in the manufacture of antioxidants
Quinoline, used in the manufacture of dyes, the preparation of hydroxyquinoline sulfate and niacin, a solvent for resins and terpenes
Anthracene, converted mainly to anthraquinone, also used in wood preservatives, insecticides, coating materials, artificial production of the red dye alizarin
Carbon nanotubes, serve as additives to various structural materials
Phthalic anhydride
Acenaphthene, to prepare naphthalene dicarboxylic anhydride, which is a precursor to dyes and optical brighteners
Carbon pitch
Carbon black feedstock
Refined coal tar, combined with clays, emulsifiers and water to form a weather protective and solvent resistant seal coating for bituminous pavement such as those found at airports, parking lots and driveways
Coal tar pitch (aluminium grade binder pitch, graphite grade binder pitch, impregnated coal tar pitch, mesophase pitch/battery materials, refractory pitch grade, ultramarine blue, pitch for industrial crucible and blocks, pitch creosote mixture dehydrated coal tar)
Indene, for production of indene/coumarone thermoplastic resins
Fluorene, for pharmaceuticals and dyes
Coal tar enamel, for pipe coating
Tetralin, used in hydrogen-donor solvent, sodium-cooled fast reactors
p-Xylene, for manufacturing of terephthalic acid for polyester
Cenosphere, used in syntactic foam and cores of sandwich structure

The report lists carbon fiber as just one of many potential coal products likely to see increasing demand in the 21st century. Other uses include advanced prosthetics, biosensors, electrodes, fertilizers and as a medium for 3D printers. And at a cost of $12 to $50 a ton versus nearly $500 a ton for petroleum, Atkins believe coal could find mass appeal again as further uses and innovations are discovered.

“As this becomes more widely known, I think we’ll see some fascinating breakthroughs in materials science,” he said. “Twenty or 30 years from now we may look back and say ‘My gosh, the 2020s were when we switched from widespread use of steel and aluminum to widespread use of carbon fiber from coal,’ that’d be huge.”

If and when those breakthroughs occur, Atkins hopes they’ll be under the roof of iCAM, or the Carbon Advanced Materials research park currently under construction in Sheridan. There, Ramaco Carbon plans to host researchers “from national laboratories, universities, private research groups and manufacturing organizations” in a collaborative effort to unlock the potential of coal’s carbon content.

Ultimately, Atkins’ plan is to develop an entire “Carbon Valley” akin to northern California’s Silicon Valley, with both research and manufacturing facilities fed by an adjacent coal mine.

That proposed coal mine, the Brook Mine, would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in half a century, and one Atkins said would be relatively tiny compared to some of the extant mines in the state. But it has yet to materialize after Wyoming’s Environmental Quality Council rejected the mine’s permit application in September 2017 amid concerns over the potential environmental impacts. Ramaco’s appeal of that decision was heard in state district court in Cheyenne earlier this month, even as the company has submitted a revised permit application to the Department of Environmental Quality.

Even if the mine is ultimately approved, and in spite of his optimism about coal’s potential, Atkins says he doesn’t expect carbon fiber production will be what reverses the drop in severance taxes – at least not in the short-term. But in time, he believes coal’s high-tech uses could be what keeps mining a viable industry in the worst-hit parts of the state.

“As products develop over time … mines that can’t make it selling their coal at $12 to $15 a ton may be able to make it if they can sell at $25 to $40,” Atkins said. “I’m hopeful over a medium-term period this will provide an alternative demand for coal beyond its use as thermal coal.”

Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, believes Atkins’ proposals have promise, even if they don’t immediately offset the recent declines in production.

“What Ramaco’s doing with carbon fiber, graphene, graphite, 3D printing, that’s a great way to use our resource and make it viable in the future,” Deti said. “Is it going to replace the 300 million tons we’re mining right now? Probably not. But it’s an innovative use of the resource and it’s a great project.”

Deti said that while coal is still widely used internationally, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, it remains a hard sell domestically. While techniques for capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants are still developing, he said, it’s important for stakeholders in the coal economy to find alternative uses of the mineral.

“We want to continue to use our coal for electricity generation, but it’s really a remarkable resource,” Deti said. “And looking at the direction of where we’re going right now in terms of electricity generation … we need to start looking at other avenues and ways of using the resource.”

Coal Liquefaction/Gasification Companies:

The 10 largest coal producers and exporters in Indonesia:

Replacing Gasoline With Coal-to-Liquid Fuels - Coal is the Future!